Automatic weighing device



June 10,

4. B. VAN DEREN AUTOMATIC WEIGHING DEVICE Filed Jan. 9, 1922 PatentedJune 10, 1924.

JAMES B, VAN DEREN, OF HENNEEiSEY, OKLAHOMA.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING DEVICE.

Application filed January 9, 1922. Serial No. 527,945.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES B. VAN DEREN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Hennessey, in the county ofKingfisher and State of Oklahoma, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Automatic lVeighing Devices, of which the following is acomplete specification.

This invention relates to automatic weighing devices and is designedmore especially as an improvement over the invention of my copendingapplication, filed February 3. 1921, Serial No. 442,102, and has for itsobject to produce a simple and effective means for insuring accurateweighing, by giving increasing leverage to the opening door to insurethe full closing movement of the other door and to maintain said doorpositively closed until the scale has had time to re-elevate thecontainer and a latch mechanism has locked the doors in position; and toalso insure the proper operation of the deflector or cut-off used indirecting the course of the grain from one compartment to the other ofthe container. This invention is especially adapted for use in largesize automatic scales, such as those employed in flour mills and grainelevators, although it is also suitable for use in the smaller sizes.

Vith the object named in view the invention consists in certain noveland useful features of construction and organization of parts ashereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fullyunderstood reference is to'be had to the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of the container and door operatingmechanism in 40 normal position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation taken at right angles to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illustrates both doorsinhalf opened position.

Figure l is a view similar to Figure 1, but

illustrates the container with the opposite door open.

Figure 5 is a central vertical section through the container andillustrates the door-operating mechanism in dotted lines.

In the said drawing, where like reference characters identifycorresponding parts in all of the figures, 1 illustrates a container ofcommon and well known type which is adapted to be depressed by apredetermined weight of grain in one of its compartments, as willhereinafter appear.

The container is divided centrally by a partition 2 into twocompartments A and B, closed at their bottoms by hinged doors 3 and 4 ascommon in the art. In operation the container will be suspended from ascale beam by any suitable means and means will be employed fordischarging the commodity to be weighed into the compartment having itsdoor closed. hen a predetermined quantity of grain has entered thecompartment having its door closed, the device as a whole will movedownward, and a latch holding the doors in fixed position will betripped, thus releasing the doors for operation by the weight of grainon one of them, as will hereinafter appear.

Pivoted to the respective doors 3 and 4 at one side thereof, are links 5and 6, each of which will normally, when its door is either open orclosed, stand at a slight angle to the vertical, and the upper ends ofsaid links are respectively pivoted to bell-crank levers 7 and 8,pivoted to the container at or near the upper edge thereof. The oppositeendsof the bell crank levers are pivoted to the ends of a connectinglink 9. The pivotal point of bell-crank lever 8, for example, may becontinued in the shape of a rod or shaft 10 for operation of the cut-offor deflector, not shown, if found desirable, though; it will beunderstood that any other suitable connections may be employed to carryout this operation.

In operation (see Figure 1), assume compartment B has been filled withgrain and the container has moved downwardly and the door latchmechanism has been tripped to free the doors for operation. Referring tothe position of the bell-crank levers, it will be seen that open door 3has a greater leverage to. resist closing movement than door 4 to open,but it will be understood that the weight of the grain will more thancounterbalance this increased leverage and that as soon as the doorshave attained their half-opened positions, the leverage is equal (seeFigure 3), but that the leverage thereof fromsuch point until theposition shown byFigure 4, has been attained. is increasing for door 4:and decreasing for door 3, and. therefore, even if the entire amount ofgrain in compartment B has been discharged before door 4 is fullyopened, still the increase in leverage this door will have over door 3will be such that it willefliciently and entirely swing door 3 to fullyclosed position regardless of obstacles such as grain or the like, whichmay be caught between the walls of the container and the door, and holdsaid door closed until the latch mechanism (not shown) has had ampletime to function, as will be readily understood. The operation of thedoors in the reverse direction is similar in all respects to that justdescribed, it being understood, of course, that the scale firstre-elevates the container and that the doors are then relocked in theirnew positions and the cut-off or deflector has been shifted to di rectthe grain into the closed compartment, as fully described andillustrated in the application hereinbefore identified.

' From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced adevice of the character described, which possesses all of the featuresof advantage set forth as desirable, and 'while I have described andclaimed the preferred embodiment of the same, I reserve the right tomake all changes properly falling within the spirit and scope of theappended claims. I

I claim:

1. In an automatic weighing device, a container having twocon'ipartments, doors for respectively controlling said compartments atthe bottoms thereof and adapted for simultaneous operation in reverseddirections, similar levers mounted on the container, power-transmittingmeans connecting the doors and said levers. respectively, the meansconnected to the opemng door having an increasing leverage on itsrespective lever during its opening movement, and the otherpower-transmitting means having a decreasing leverage on its respectivelever during its closing movement, and ,a link pivotally connecting thelevers to transmit power from one door to the other.

In an automatic weighing device, a container having two compartments,doors for respectively controlling said compartments at the bottomsthereof'and adapted for simultaneous operation in reversed direction,similar bell-crank levers mounted on the container, links between thedoors and said bell-crank levers respectively, the link connected to theopening door having an increasing leverage on its respective leverduring its opening movement, and the other link having a decreasingleverage on its respective lever during its closing movement, and meansto transmit power from one hellcrank to the other.

3. In an automatic weighing device, a container having two compartments,doors for respectively controlling said compartments at the bottomsthereof and adapted for simultaneous operation in reversed direction,similar bell-crank levers mounted on the container, links between thedoors and said bell-crank levers respectively, the link connected to theopening door having an increasing leverage on its respective leverduring its opening movement, and the other link having a decreasingleverage on its 1espective lever during its closing movement, and a.link pivotally connecting the bellcrank levers to transmit power fromone to theother.

4. In an automatic weigher, a two compartment container, hinged wingdoors controlling the discharge openings of said compartmentsrespectively, a pair of separately pivoted oscillating levers, powertransmitting means connecting the levers to said doors respectively, andpower-transmitting means connecting said levers to each other whereby aseither .door shall be opened the other door shall be closed; therelation of the levers to each other being such that as either levershall, in its oscillating movement, carry the vertical plane of itsconnection with its door toward the fulcrum of the lever the other levershall cooperatively carry the plane of its connection to its doorfurther away from the fulcrum of said lever.

5. In an automatic weigher, a container having two compartments, hingedwing doors controlling the discharge openings of saidcompartments, apair of similar levers separately pivoted and having power-transmittingconnections with said doors respectively and with each other whereby aseither door shall be opened the other door shall be closed, the relationof said levers to each other being such that the door connection ofeither door to its respective lever shall gain in leverage onsaid leveras the door opens while the other lever shall gain in leverage on itsdoor connection as its door closes.

6. In an automatic weigher, a two oompartment container, hinged wingdoors controlling the discharge openings of said compartments, a pair ofsimilar rock-levers pivoted separately, power transmitting meansconnecting said levers to said doors respectively and connecting saidlevers to each other whereby as either door shall be opened the othershall be closed; the connections of said levers with each other beingsuch that they shall be at an angle with each other, giving the openingdoor an increasing leverage as it opens and the closing door adecreasing resistance.

In witness whereof I hereunto afiix my

